List of amazing animal superpowers:
9. Hairy Frog
This frog breaks its own bones to grow claws. Also known as the “Horror Frog” or the “Wolverine Frog," (with good reason), it is located in central Africa. Its name comes from the hair that grows on its sides. It's actually not really hair but thin skin-like structures that protrude from its body that looks like hair.
But what makes this frog so amazing isn’t its hair. It’s its claws. It's claws are made of bone that it can project through its skin by breaking its toe bones. When the frogs feels threatened or under attack the frog will push these broken bones out of its feet to produce claws.
As the bone pushes outward, a bone nodule closer to the outside of the foot adds a sharp point to the frogs’ bones making them look and act just like claws. And unlike all other animals with claws, the “Wolverine Frog’s” claws are not covered in a protective coating of keratin. These frogs are attacking with their actual bones. A frog with similar superpowers was also discovered recently in Japan. Known as the Otton frog, it also conceals a retractable spike for fighting.
Scientist aren’t certain if the bones ever retract after they have broken through the skin but considering the “Wolverine” frog’s amazing ability, it's likely that over time the bones recess back into the foot, until they are needed again.
8. The Mantis Shrimp
It might be tiny, but this little shrimp packs a massive punch. Even though they are only 4 inches long, they are one of the strongest animals in the world. The Mantis shrimp have clubs they use to punch and destroy their prey.
The shrimp has developed a complex muscular structure that actually winds up the shrimp’s punching arm like a spring. When the shrimp is ready to attack, it releases the spring-loaded club with the force of a shot. The punch accelerates over 50 mph with a force of over 330 pounds. That's up to 2500 times the shrimp's own weight. Scientists have to keep these shrimp in thick plastic tanks because their punch can easily smash glass.
If a person could hit that hard, they could break steel. Besides the actual clubs, the force and speed the shrimp uses to attack creates bubbles that are so strong that they act like a shockwave, stunning the prey first then knocking it down. In essence, a Mantis shrimp punch acts and feels like multiple hits, even though it’s just one stroke.
In order to punch that hard without breaking their clubs, mantis shrimp have a special shock absorbent core called a bouligand structure. This keeps small cracks from breaking completely and researchers are trying to imitate this structure to design thin, light materials.
7. The Immortal Jellyfish
Known as the Benjamin Button of the sea, these tiny jellyfish transform from an adult back into a baby and they can do it over and over again. They are barely visible to the human eye, with an adult jelly reaching an average of 4.5mm, about the size of your pinky nail (0.18 inches). What makes this animal so amazing, is the fact that it can live forever.
They can live and die per usual but if they sense some kind of crisis like starvation or physical injury, the immortal jellyfish can transform all of its existing cells into a younger state.
The jellyfish turns itself into a blob, then a polyp colony which is the first stage of jellyfish life. This colony can spawn hundreds of genetically identical jellyfish.
Because of their ability to change their cellular structure, scientists have been studying the tiny jellyfish in hopes of helping people who suffer from cellular disease. This continual cycle of regeneration or self-cloning is what makes the jellyfish, in essence, the only known animal known to live forever.